Page 65 of Tailwind

‘Just do it, Quinn. Get it over with.’ Josie wasn’t impressed. At least not yet. I was sure she’d turn around on the whole idea when she saw me win.

‘Okay …’ Quinn was still unsure. ‘Go?’

We launched into our food. Theo liked to go for everything immediately, shovelling in as much as he could. I preferred to match the food together, the way I would usually eat it, but increase the speed as much as possible. Theo’s strategy was quantity, mine was quality.

‘Okay, this explains why you two are friends.’ Omar laughed from down the table. I was too wrapped up in beating Theo to correct him. We weren’t friends.

‘You should have seen them race,’ said Quinn. ‘I was lucky they were so wrapped up in beating each other that I escaped them. Honestly the only thing scarier than them competing against each other was them being on the same team.’

I guzzled some water to help wash the food down. Quinn was right. Being on the same team as Theo was scary. We’d spent two years alongside each other in the Wyvern Cup. Despite the awful end to it all, the time beforehand … well, Josie had the numbers to prove just how good we’d been.

I swallowed the last bit of yak jerky and slammed my hands down on the table.

‘Clear!’ Both Theo and I yelled at the same time. Then, in unison once more, ‘Who won?’

Quinn looked between us and took a long and slow sip from his drink. He placed it down gently on the table, the glass nearly silent against the soft wood. He cleared his throat.

My knuckles were white as I gripped the edge of the table.

‘Lena wins.’

‘No!’

‘Yes!’ I stood up in celebration, hands in the air. My knee cracked against the table – I’d forgotten our seats were fixed underneath it. I sat back down, trying not to clutch my leg as my eyes watered.

‘That’s what you get for gloating,’ Theo said, gloating.

I flipped him off.

‘Hey, Quinn, want to race?’ Colly held up a whole bowl of soup in challenge.

Smiling, Quinn shook his head. ‘Let’s leave that to the professionals.’

We may have gorged on plenty already, but something about the cold outside and being with the group made me want to keep eating. The kitchen kept a constant stream of food coming and landed it right in front of Jas and the two Prevere riders. The alcohol, however, was kept away from them.

‘Not for you!’ The host told the Prevere boys, but happily served the rest of us.

Theo handed Colly a bottle under the table like the bad influence he was, as Quinn chuckled into his soft drink, content to stay completely sober ahead of the upcoming race.

It was a sensible choice. The food may have done a good job at soaking it up, but I could feel myself relaxing more and more as the spiced rum sank in. Not enough to be hungover the next day, but enough that when I met Theo’s eyes across the table my heart didn’t twist with hatred, but instead rang hollow with nostalgia for a time I couldn’t go back to.

We gathered our shoes, coats and hats and bundled out into the night.

Omar, Jas and Josie went ahead, followed by Theo and Colly, leaving myself and Quinn to bring up the rear. Contrary to the dread I’d felt when seeing the group at the start of the evening, I felt comfortable. Walking back to the aviary after a meal out with friends … it was something I’d missed.

Quinn and I walked in silence for a few moments before the urge to break it became too much.

‘Does it at least get warmer here in summer?’ If in doubt, fall back on the weather.

Quinn played with the collar of his blue coat, folding the signature Prevere white fur back away from his ears. I was close enough to see that freckles were speckled over those too.

‘This is summer,’ he answered, walking slowly beside me.

‘Right.’ It was easy to forget that the Kuramines ran along the entire eastern border of Gedeinia. Their snow-capped peaks felt so unfamiliar. Still, I at least knew the basics about the long narrow country. Specifically for the three race locations visited by Volitant Chroma.

‘It’s not so bad.’ His voice wasn’t as quiet as it had been a few days ago. He seemed more relaxed. ‘I’ve spent seven years up here now and it just feels normal. The winters though …’ He shuddered.

‘You’re here in the off-season?’ Most riders had a home they went back to between the end of one season and the beginning of another, like Bach Lotiere and his rumoured secret mansion on the northern continent. Or they travelled, spending all the money they’d earned, like Huwin Thorne and his rumoured multiple families in each country.